The Virgin and Child on the Crescent and the Orb

Hans Georg Fux (1661–1706), signed
Straubing, ca 1690
Ivory, carved; pupils with traces of black polychromy
Reliquary pedestal: ivory; relic (splinter of bone); silver and gold embroidery
Signed on the back of the orb: ‘. G . FVX’
Old collection label
Height ca 30.5 cm

Provenance: Denmark, private collection

A majestic figure, the Virgin holding the Child rises high above the Orb and the crescent. Her foot is placed on the serpent coiled about the Orb and biting an apple, an unmistakable reference to the Fall. Here the Virgin is not only represented as the Queen of Heaven with a crown on her head, but also as the Woman of the Apocalypse according to the description in the Book of Revelation: she stands for the pregnant woman ‘with the Sunne, & the Moone vnder her feete, and vpon her head a Crowne of twelue starres:’, who is menaced by a ‘great red dragon’, and whose appearance heralds the Last Judgement (Revelation 12,1–5). The dynamic composition and lively design of the cloak folds contrast with the inner calm and gentleness radiating from the Virgin’s face, promising redemption to the devout through the intercession of the Mother of God. Her head is slightly tilted towards the naked Christ Child she is holding in her left arm. Her right arm is outstretched and she is making a graceful gesture with her hand as if to address the viewer. The elaborate design of the rich folds of her apparel, the fine cut of the faces and the delicacy of the Virgin’s hands reveal how extraordinarily talented the sculptor was who signed his work on the back of the Orb with the inscription ‘. G . FVX’. The signature indicates that the author of this superlative statuette was Hans Georg Fux, who is known for his particularly fine ivory sculptures of a devotional character. More signed works of his are extant: in a private collection, at the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich, the Gäubodenmuseum in Straubing, the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg and the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin.